Alexei Kalionski is an Associate Professor at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski,” Faculty of History. He teaches Ottoman history, and the pre-modern and early modern history of Russia, Eastern Europe, and Eurasia, with a focus on minorities, migrations, and nomadic societies. He received the Gipson Award in 2013 for his research on the Ottoman Balkans. He has authored around 40 publications, including three books, among them Yürüks in the Ottoman Balkans (2020) and Communities, Identities and Migrations in Southeast Europe (2014). He has been a member of the Joint History Project (JHP) since 1999.